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Skellig Michael was uninhabited before its monastery was founded.[2] Folklore holds that Ir, son of Míl Espáine, was buried on the island, and a text from the 8th or 9th century states that Duagh, King of West Munster, fled to "Scellecc" after a feud with the Kings of Cashel, although it is not known whether these events actually took place.[3]

The monastery's exact date of foundation is not known.[3] The first definite reference to monastic activity on the island is a record of the death of "Suibhini of Skelig" dating from the 8th century; however, Saint Fionán is claimed to have founded the monastery in the 6th century.

The monastic site on the island is on a terraced shelf 600 feet (180 metres) above sea level, and developed between the sixth and eighth centuries. It contains six beehive cells, two oratories as well as a number of stone crosses and slabs. It also contains a later medieval church. The cells and oratories are all of dry-built corbel construction. A carefully designed system for collecting and purifying water in cisterns was developed. It has been estimated that no more than twelve monks and an abbot lived here at any one time.[4] A hermitage is on the south peak.

The diet of monks living on the North Atlantic islands was somewhat different from that of those who lived on the mainland. With less arable land available to grow grain, vegetable gardens became an important part of monastic life. Of necessity, fish and the meat and eggs of birds nesting on the islands became staples.[5]

The "Annals of Inisfallen" record a Viking attack in 823. The site had been dedicated to Saint Michael by at least 1044 (when the death of "Aedh of Scelic-Mhichí" is recorded).[1][3] However, this dedication may have occurred as early as 950, around which time a new church was added to the monastery (typically done to celebrate a consecration) which was called Saint Michael's Church.[2]

The monastery remained continuously occupied until the 12th or 13th century.[2] During this time, the climate around Skellig Michael became colder and more prone to storms, and this, along with changes to the structure of the Irish Church, prompted the community to abandon the island and move to the abbey in Ballinskelligs.[3]

Skellig Michael remained in the possession of the Catholic Canons Regular until the dissolution of the Ballinskelligs abbey during the Protestant Reformation by Elizabeth I in 1578.[2][6] Ownership was then passed to the Butler family with whom it stayed until the early 1820s, when the Corporation for Preserving and Improving the Port of Dublin (the predecessor to the Commissioners of Irish Lights) purchased the island from John Butler of Waterville in a compulsory purchase order.[3][6] The Corporation constructed two lighthouses on the Atlantic side of the island, and associated living quarters, all of which was completed by 1826.[1] The Office of Public Works took the remains of the monastery into guardianship in 1880, and repaired certain collapsed structures, before buying the island (with the exception of the lighthouses and associated structures) from the Commissioners of Irish Lights.[1][2][3]

Skellig Michael was made a World Heritage Site in 1996, at the 20th Session of the World Heritage Committee in Mérida, Mexico.[7] After being nominated for inclusion on 28 October 1995, an evaluation of the site by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (an advisory body of the World Heritage Committee), recommended that the island be inscribed on the basis of criteria (iii) and (iv) of the World Heritage List's selection criteria, which relate the cultural significance of a site.[6] The Committee approved this recommendation, describing Skellig Michael as of "exceptional universal value", and a "unique example of an early religious settlement", while also noting the site's preservation as a result of its "remarkable environment", and its ability to illustrate "as no other site can, the extremes of a Christian monasticism characterizing much of North Africa, the Near East and Europe".[7]

Each year at least four boat licences are granted to tour operators[8] who run trips to Skellig Michael during the summer season (May to October, inclusive), weather permitting. For safety reasons, because the steps up to the monastery are rocky, steep, and old, climbs are not permitted during very wet or windy weather. There are dive sites immediately around the rock.[9]

Skellig Michael is a major influence on the fictional Skellige in the award-winning video game series The Witcher, which features similar landmarks and islands, and the inhabitants of which share a culture and accent with that of the Gaels.[citation needed]